Dr David Starkey tells the story of the two greatest war leaders in British history, both of whom were called Churchill. Everyone knows Winston Churchill led Britain and her Allies in their struggle against Hitler; less well known is John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, who led Britain and her Allies against an earlier would-be dictator of Europe, Louis XIV of France. John Churchill was Winston's ancestor, his inspiration and his subject. Before he was Prime Minister, Winston Churchill wrote a million-word biography of John Churchill. Starkey argues that the ten years Winston spent working on it turned him from a politician into a statesman-prophet, and prepared him for the immense task of leading the nation against Nazi Germany.